Khan-Peterson tour gets trans-Atlantic start this week

Golden Boy Promotions will hold separate press conferences on Tuesday and Thursday in London and Washington, D.C., to officially kick off “Capitol Showdown: Khan vs. Peterson.”

The HBO-televised bout will feature junior welterweight beltholder Amir Khan of England in the first defense of his IBF title against mandatory challenger Lamont Peterson of Washington, D.C. The event is slated for Dec. 10 in Peterson’s home town.

The 24-year-old Khan (26-1, 18 KOs), who also holds the WBA belt, has won eight consecutive fights, four of them by knockout.

The 27-year-old Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KOs) won an IBF eliminator with a 12th-round stoppage of Victor Cayo (26-2, 18 KOs) at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in July, earning the organization’s No. 1 contender status and the right to challenge Khan.

“Man, I have been waiting to fight at home for about three or four years now, so being able to fight at home for a world title? Wow,” said Peterson. “You know, that makes it so much more better and so much sweeter being in that it’s in D.C., because my past few fights have been on the West Coast.”

In fact, Peterson’s past four bouts have all been on the West Coast — one in California, and three in Las Vegas.

Peterson’s initial title shot was in December of 2009, when he lost by unanimous decision to Tim Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) for the WBO belt in Rancho, Mirage, Calif.

Peterson is 2-0-1, with two KOs since falling to Bradley, including a seventh-round stoppage of Damian Fuller in April of last year.

On the Khan-Maidana undercard, Peterson and southpaw Victor Ortiz (28-3-2, 22 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., battled to a 10-round, majority draw, despite Peterson getting dropped twice during the third round of the fight.

Ortiz went on to take the WBC welterweight title from Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KOs) in April before losing it himself via fourth-round knockout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KOs) on Sept. 17.

“I love fighting in Vegas, which is very cool,” said Peterson. “But I like looking at a crowd when I’m going into the ring and seeing some faces that I know.”

The show will also present 29-year-old heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell (23-0-1, 17 KOs), of Brandywine, Md., according to Schaefer. Mitchell has scored nine consecutive knockouts and 22 straight victories.

“I’ll be able to get some familiar cheers when I do something well in the ring, so hopefully, I’ll get people coming out to support me,” said Peterson. “I feel like I’m blessed right now to be fighting for two world titles in my home town.”